Hammer-mechanism for audiblesignal clocks



July 10, 1934.

E. L. CARLSON HAMMER MECHANISM FOR AUDIBLE SIGNAL CLOCKS Filed Feb. 15, 1933 9 #a l y# f a 47 Z5 3 30 #le o 2 3/ 35 W /3 Zu-zy J2 mun Patented July 10, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HADIIVIER-MECHANISM FOR AUDIBLE- SIGNAL CLOCKS poration Application February 15, 1933, Serial No. 656,870

6 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in hammer-mechanisms for audible-signal clocks, such for instance as strike-clocks, chime-clocks,

[I combination chime-and-strike clocks, etc., and

*J relates in particular to hammer-stroke regulating means, whereby the blow of a strike-hammer or the like may be regulated or adjusted.

An object of the present invention is to provide a reliable and effective hammer-mechanism in which the stroke of the hammer itself may be readily varied or regulated to produce the desired tonal effect, etc.

Other objects and advantages will appear to r those skilled in the art from the following, taken 1" in conjunction with the appended claims and the accompanying drawing.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a broken view in front elevation of a portion of a strike-clock movement embodying 20 one form of a hammer-mechanism constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a view thereof in side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a broken sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. l, but on a larger scale; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the strike-adjusting unit detached; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view corresponding to Fig. 3 but showing another form which the present invention may assume.

0 The particular strike-clock movement herein chosen for illustration includes a front movement-plate 10, an intermediate movement-plate 11, and a rear movement-plate 12, arranged in parallelism and held in spaced relationship by suitable pillars 13.

Suitably mounted in the movement-plates is a seconds-arbor 14 carrying at its forward end a seconds-pointer 15 and on which is mounted, with freedom for rotation, a minute-sleeve 16 carrying at its forward end a minute-hand 17 and at its rear end carrying a gear-wheel 18, by means of which it may be rotated at its appropriate speed of l R. P. H.

Mounted upon the minute-sleeve 16 before referred to with freedom for rotation thereon is an hour-sleeve 19 carrying at its forward end the usual hour-hand 20 and having at its rear end an hour-wheel 21 meshing into and driven by a dial-pinion 22 carried by a dial-wheel 23 and rotating therewith on a stud 24 forwardly offsetting from the front movement-plate 10. The dial-Wheel 23 meshes into and is driven by a cannon-pinion 25 rigidly mounted upon the minute-sleeve 16 just forwardly of the front 55 movement-plate 10.

Mounted upon the minute-sleeve 16 with capacity for movement thereon and located intermediate the gear-wheel 18 and the front movement-plate 10 is a hammer-actuating Wheel 26 having an annular series of forwardly-projecting hammer-actuating fingers 27 and havingT staked to its rear face a pinion 28 by means of which it may be driven.

The parts above described form features of a clock-movement, the specific nature of which may vary widely, without affecting the present invention.

As shown, the fingers 27 of the hammer-actuating wheel 26 are adapted to engage and rock a hammer-actuating lever 29 mounted upon a rock- 70 ing-shaft 30 bearing at its respective opposite ends in the front and intermediate movementplates 10 and l1. The outer end of the said hammer-actuating' lever 29 is forwardly bent to form a coupling-finger 31 entering a slot 32 75 formed in an extension 33 of a sheet-metal hammer-arm 34. The said hammer-arm 34 has staked to it a collar 35 which is, in turn, staked to an oscillating hammer-shaft 36 bearing at its respective opposite ends in the front and intermediate movement-plates 10 and 11 respectively. The outer end of the hammer-arm 34 carries the usual hammer-head or striker 37 adapted to strike, on occasion, a gong-rod 38 or other suitable sounding device, represented by broken lines in Fig. l.

Encircling the forward end of the hammershaft 36 intermediate the hammer-arm 34 and the front movement-plate 10 is a helical spring 39 having complementary arms 40 and 41, the former of which is hooked over the hammer-arm 34 and the latter of which is engaged with the under-face of the adjacent one of the pillars 13, to exert a constant effort to swing the hammerarm 34 in the direction required to engage the hammer-head 37 with the gong-rod 38.

Rigidly staked to the hammer-shaft 36 above referred to, adjacent the rear end thereof, is a collar 42 having rigidly connected to it a sheetmetal hammer-tail 43 provided at its free end with a rearwardly-bent stopor abutment-finger 100 44. The said finger 44 is adapted to engage the periphery of a disk-like eccentric-abutment 45 of cylindrical peripheral form and eccentrically staked upon the forward end of a rotary adjusting-stem 46 having bearing in the intermediate 105 and rear movement-plates 11 and 12, as clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing.- Obviously, if desired, the said hammer-tail may be formed integrally with the hammer-arm 34 as is common practice.

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At its rear end, the adjusting-stem 46 is provided with a polygonal adjusting-head 47 and is provided adjacent the intermediate movementplate ll with a collar 48 held in irictional engagement with the rear face of the said plate by means of a bowed spring 49 having its respective opposite ends each extending into the adjacent one of a complementary pair of sockets 5U formed in the movement-plate and serving to hold the said spring 49 against rotary movement. The forward face of the central portion of the said spring 49 bears against a collar 51 staked to the stem 46 immediately to the rear of the eccentric abutment 45 thereon.

As the hammer-actuating wheel 26 is revolved when in the position in which it is shown in Fig. 2, its fingers 27 will successively swing the lever 29 and thus eiect a clockwise swinging movement of the unit comprising the hammer-arm 34, ham-j mer-tail 43, shaft 36 and associated parts, with the effect of lifting the hammer-head 37. As the particular nger 27 of the hammer-actuating wheel 26 passes the adjacent end of the lever 29, gravity will act, assisted by the spring 39, to swing the hammer-arm 34 and associated parts in a counterclockwise direction, with the effect of causing the hammer-head 37 to strike the gong 38 and with the further effect of engaging the stop-iinger 44 of the hammer-tail 43 with the periphery of the eccentric-abutment 45. It is to be understood in this connection that the resiliency of the parts permits the hammer-head 37 to strike the gong-rod 38 and spring back clear thereof, so as not to interfere with the vibrations of the said gong-rod.

Now, since the tonal effect produced by the hammer-head 37 striking the gong-rod 38, or similar sounding device, is dependent largely upon the spacing between the said hammer-head and the said gong. immediately after the engagement takes place, the said spacing may be readily regulated by appropriately turning the adjusting-stern 46 to effect the stoppage of the hammer-tail 43 and hence the hammer-head 37, etc., at any desired point within given limits.

1f it is desired to regulate the strokes of two hammers instead of one, a construction may be employed such as that shown in Fig. 5 oi the drawing, in which an adjusting-sleeve 52 is mounted upon the rear portion of the adjustingstern 46 with freedom for rotation thereon and bearing in the rear movement-plate 12, as shown. The rear end of the said adjusting-sleeve 52 is provided with an adjusting-head 53 and with a friction-collar 54 bearing against the rear face of the rear movement-plate l2 and held in such engagement by a bowed spring 49 corresponding to the spring 43 before described. The said spring 49a bears at its central portion against a collar 55 mounted on the said sleeve 52. The extreme forward end of the said sleeve 52 carries an eccentric-abutment 453 corresponding to the eccentric-abutment 45 before described.

From the foregoing it will be seen that either one of the eccentric-abutments 45 or 45a may be independently adjusted as required to regulate the stroke of a complementary hammer, by appropriately turning the adjusting-heads 47 or 53, as the case may be.

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention, and the present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

I claim:

l. An adjustable hammer-checking device, including a rotary adjusting member carrying an eccentrically-positioned abutment; a second rotary adjusting member sleeved over the firstmentioned adjusting member and also carrying an eccentrically-positioned abutment.

2. An adjustable hammer-checking device, including a rotary adjusting member carrying an eccentrically-positioned disk-like abutment; a second rotary adjusting member sleeved over the first-mentioned adjusting member and also carrying an eccentrically-positioned disk-like abutment.

3. The combination with hammer-mechanism,

including a swinging hammer and hammer-tail;

oi means for checking the blow of the said hammer, including a rotary adjusting-member designed to be rotated to various adjusted positions, and a disk-like abutment surroimding and eccentrically carried by the said rotary adjusting-member in position to be engaged by the said hammer-tail.

4. The combination with hammer-mechanism, including a swinging hammer and hammer-tail; of means for checking the blow 'of the said hammer, including a rotary adjusting-member designed to be rotated to various adjusted positions, and a disk-like abutment surrounding and of considerably greater diameter than, and eccentrically carried by the said rotary adjusting- 'i member in position to be engaged by the said hammer-tail.

5. The combination with hammer-mechanism, including a swinging hammer and hammer-tail; of means for checking the blow of the said hammer, including a rotary adjusting-member designed to be rotated to various adjusted positions, and a disk-like abutment surrounding and eccentrically carried by the said rotary adjusting-member in position to be engaged by the said hammer-tail, the engaging portion of the hammer-tail extending transversely of the general plane of swing of the hammer-tail.

6. The combination with hammer-mechanism,

including a swinging hammer and hammer-tail;

of means for checking the blow of the said hammer, including a rotary adjusting-member designed to be rotated to various adjusted positions, and a disk-like abutment surrounding and eccentrically carried by the said rotary adjustl,

ing-member in position to be engaged by the said hammer-tail, the engaging portion of the hammer-tail extending transversely of the general plane of swing of the hammer-tail and being of less Width than the diameter oi" the rotary ad- 1 j Listing-member.

ELOF L. CARLSON. 

